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The Well-Child Checkup & Immunizations/Vaccinations

Unless your baby shows outward signs of illness or some other health problem, you may not know anything is wrong. Some conditions require blood tests or a doctor’s practiced eye to detect. Well-child checkups, which you should schedule, are the best way we have of finding potential problems early when they can be more easily and successfully treated.

The well-child checkup includes:

Getting a health history and developmental assessment.

A complete physical exam.

Vision and hearing checkups.

Laboratory tests.

Age-appropriate immunizations.

Health education.

A dental referral.

Put your copy of the “Well-Child Checkups and Immunizations/Vaccinations” chart where you can refer to it easily. Making and keeping appointments with your child’s pediatrician will help keep your baby healthy and happy.

Immunizations/vaccinations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes a schedule of immunizations needed by age for children from birth through age 6. Immunizations will protect your child from getting many serious illnesses (like polio, measles, mumps and others) that can cause lifelong problems. So it’s very important that your child be up to date on shots. If you have questions about which immunizations your baby received in the hospital at birth, call your doctor. Experts have studied these vaccines to ensure they are safe and effective.

Also make sure your baby gets a flu shot every year.

NOTE: If your child misses a shot, you don’t need to start over. Just go back to your child’s doctor for the next shot. The doctor will keep your child up to date on vaccines. Talk with your doctor if you have questions. Making and keeping appointments with your child’s pediatrician will help keep your baby healthy and happy.

This schedule applies to healthy children. Parents of children who are born more than two months premature, with chronic diseases (like sickle cell disease, anatomic or functional asplenia, HIV or other immunodeficiencies) or who have cochlear implants should talk to the doctor about additional needed vaccines.

Visit HealthyFamiliesNow.net/resources to print out a copy of this chart to hang on your refrigerator or somewhere that you can refer to it easily.

Footnotes

1. HepA vaccination is recommended for high-risk children older than 2 years. Children with certain medical conditions may also need a dose of meningococcal vaccine (MCV4) and pneumococcal vaccine (PPSV). HepA vaccination may be administered to any child older than 2 years for whom immunity is desired. See vaccine-specific recommendations at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/ACIP-list.htm.

2. Two doses given at least four weeks apart are recommended for children aged 6 months through 8 years of age who are getting a flu vaccine for the first time. Children who only got one dose in their first year of vaccination should get two doses the following year.